


The Talk

by MeloAnnechen



Category: Get Your Man
Genre: Alternate Universe - Class of 1995, Gardening, Gen, awkward ducklings, safe sex talk, sexual orientation discussion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-27
Updated: 2015-03-27
Packaged: 2018-03-19 23:22:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3628104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeloAnnechen/pseuds/MeloAnnechen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two young men. Two talks of similar content but differing tones.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Talk

**30 June 1991**

“Mrs Pemberton-Debien?” came the squeaky voice of a young man not quite settled into his adult voice.

Raven looked up from weeding the garden to see one of the few boys in the new high school class. “Yes, Francis?”

The painfully skinny boy was shuffling nervously at the garden gate as Raven tended the tomato patch. He cleared his throat, “I was wondering if I could ask you some things.”

He was either horribly sun-burnt, or extremely embarrassed, so Raven waved him into the garden, “Come on, help me weed, and ask away.”

It took him a few minutes of chores for him to quietly ask, “If I’m not normal, do you have to tell my parents?”

 _Ah, so it’s going to be **that** sort of talk_ , Raven thought to herself, but her response to him was casual. “Probably not, because being normal is overrated. But if you are going to hurt yourself, I will have to do something about it.”

“I don’t know if it’s dangerous, even if there’s people who…” Francis swallowed, then stumbled on, “who say it’s wrong,” his voice dropped to a whisper, “...evil.”

“There’s lots of things that some people say are evil, because it’s something they don’t like. Thing is, what is evil changes, depending on who you talk to.” She kept working, just keeping an eye on him though her peripheral vision, “Personally, I think it’s horrible for someone to hurt others deliberately. But I can only report certain things to the family services, because of the way the evidence has to come to light.” She worked a particularly stubborn weed out of the bed, before she quietly asked, “Why do you think you aren't normal?”

“Great-grandma keeps asking when I’m going to start courting, so she can set me up with what she calls ‘proper’ girls.” Francis’s voice was almost a whisper, and shaking, “I don’t think I want a girlfriend.”

“Not unusual,” Raven shrugged, keeping her voice casual, but quiet. “I’m sure someone’s suggested you might be a late bloomer, but that’s not it, is it?”

“I-I think I like,” Francis whispered, “I might like guys.” He was definitely blushing, keeping his head down, hiding his face behind the curtain of his shoulder-length hair.

“Rare, but not abnormal,” Raven said, scratching her ear. “I admit, out in the boondocks like we are, it might be harder to find a partner, but not impossible.”

Francis’s head had snapped up at that, “I’m not an abomination?”

“NO.” She finally turned to him. “Francis, anyone who says that is not worth your time. You’re old enough to know who and what you find attractive, and your opinion is what matters most in finding your partner.”

“Oh,” the young man’s face was full of embarrassed relief, as he brushed a hand across his eyes, “I’m okay?”

“Yes, you are. Look, stop by the clinic sometime after the holiday, and I’ll have some pamphlets for you.” Raven nodded, “You don’t need to jump into everything at once, but they will give you tips on staying safe, and some other resources. The short version is as long as you don't set yourself up to get hurt and don't hurt anyone else, you should be fine." She patted his shoulder, “A lot of the advice boils down to talking to your partner, and listening to what they say. That’s important no matter who you are with.”

With a jerky nod, Francis murmured, “O-okay, thanks.” 

**10 August 1991**

The resident angry young man tossed himself into the wing back chair with a grunt.

Raven did not look up from the paper, knowing her nephew’s habits in the month since his father had sent him to Canada.

“Hey, Charles.” When he grumbled into his shoulder, she lowered the paper, “Something wrong?”

“Dad didn't ask about demographics when he arranged to throw me out here, did he?”

Questions about what her brother knew before sending Charles had not come up before, so Raven was curious about the reason. “Nothing from me, but he did quote the crime statistics as a reason for you to be more likely to get straightened out if you were here.” 

He gave a snort of a laugh, “As if.”

“Huh.” Raven raised her eyebrow, “You get the pamphlets from the NHS on safe sex?”

“Yeah, and the ones from the pride organizers. Dad’s probably burned them by now.” Charles shrugged, “I remember the cautions, though.”

“What about communication?”

“What about it?”

“I know Jim, emotionally constipated as he is, likely left it to Diane,” Raven raised an eyebrow at Charles, “but has anyone talked to you about communicating with your partner?”

Charles shook his head, “The way they get upset about anyone witnessing them kissing, I figured my parents wanted me to avoid all physical contact except what was absolutely necessary.”

Raven was suddenly glad her nephew had been shipped to her as soon as he had. “I wondered why you were so weird about G and me showing affection. Your parents are the weird ones in my book, but that’s their bag.”

He shrugged, “I’m getting that impression.” 

“The one thing I can tell you is you are going to need to talk about what you want. Not to me,” she shook her head at his sudden terror, “but with your partner. Promise me that you’ll actually talk to your partner, about everything. Everything you like, what you don’t like, what you do when you’re alone, what you want your partner to do. Then listen to what they want, make sure you both are on the same page, and take care with each other.”

“Anything else?”

“Remember that No is a complete sentence, and Stop is an order, no matter who you are with,” Raven tilted her head, “I think that covers it.”

“I like this talk better than Dad’s version, even if it is longer,” Charles chuckled.

“He actually talked about sex?”

“What he actually said was ‘don’t do it’ and left it at that.”

Raven shook her head. “As if that ever worked.”


End file.
